Answers to media questions

Vladimir Putin responded
to media questions at the end of his working visit to Uzbekistan to attend the SCO
Heads of State Council, timed to coincide with the 15th anniversary
of the SCO.

June 24, 2016

16:40

Tashkent

Concluding his working visit to Uzbekistan, the President of Russia answered journalists’ questions.

Question: I would like to ask you about Brexit. Well before the vote, it was alleged that
Russia would be happy if Britain decided to leave the EU. After the vote, there
were also comments to the effect that this plays into Russia’s hands and, in this context, that this can have a positive impact on the issue of lifting
sanctions on Russia. How do you assess the results of the vote? Whose side were
you on? How will Russia’s relations with the EU and Britain now be built? What
implications will this decision have for our economy?

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: We are in Tashkent, where the SCO summit has
just ended. Therefore, I would like to begin by thanking President Islam
Karimov and all our Uzbek friends for what they have accomplished during their
presidency of the SCO.

As you have seen, we are about to admit two large countries, India and Pakistan. Pure formalities remain to be
completed; there is good reason to believe that as of next year, they will be
full members of this organisation. With their admission, the organisation
naturally acquires a different ring to it and a different weight.

It accounts for almost half the world’s population – 45 percent, and for now less than 20 percent of global
production, but even this is a high indicator, and it is sure to grow because
all of these economies are developing rapidly. In this connection, there is
every reason to say that the summit has been a success.

Now I’d like to say a few words
about statements made before the voting in Britain and after it. Naturally, we
closely followed the voting but never interfered or sought to influence it.
Therefore, British Prime Minister David Cameron’s statements on Russia’s
position before the referendum had no grounds whatsoever.

I think it was an inappropriate
attempt to influence public opinion at home. As we can see, it did not work. In my opinion, it is all the more inappropriate to speak about Russia’s supposed
position after the voting. This is truly a low level of political discourse.

Now, to address the core issue. Of course, this will have consequences for both Britain and Europe as a whole. The referendum campaign and subsequent results point to the British Government’s
self-assuredness and supercilious attitude to life-changing decisions in their
own country and Europe in general. It will have global effects. Again, they are
inevitable – both positive and negative. Needless to say, everything will settle
back to normal in the mid-term. Time will tell whether there will be more
pluses or minuses.

It seems to me that ordinary British
citizens understand why this happened. First, nobody wants to feed and subsidise weaker economies and pay support other states and entire nations.
This is an obvious fact. Apparently, people are displeased about security, which
is being eroded by powerful migration waves. People want to be more
independent.

One of the EU leaders – a former
leader—told me that the ratio of binding decisions adopted by the European
Parliament is higher than made by the USSR Supreme Soviet in relation to Soviet
republics.

This means that the concentration of power at the top there is very high. Some like it and want to continue down
this road of erasing national borders, whereas others do not like it. Judging
by everything, by the results of the voting, the overwhelming majority of British subjects do not like it. It does not suit them.

However, I would like to reiterate
what I said recently at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum. This is
the choice made by British subjects. We did not interfere, are not interfering
and will not interfere in this in any way. From all indications, certain formal
procedures will follow, related to the British people’s decision to leave the EU.

We will closely watch and analyse
this, seeking to minimise whatever negative fallout this decision might have
for our economy, because considering the blow it dealt to markets and currencies, it is bound to impact and is already impacting stock exchange
indices and therefore the prices of our traditional goods, but I am sure that
everything will fall into place in the very near future.

We do not expect a global upheaval as a result. Of course, as I said, we will be closely monitoring things, adjusting
our economic policy and adjusting our relations with our European partners.

Regarding the sanctions policy, I do
not think that this will in any way impact our relations with the EU in this
regard. We were not the ones who initiated these sanctioned restrictions on both sides. We only responded to the restrictions that were imposed on our
country.

I would like to reiterate that if
our partners are ever ready for constructive dialogue on these issue, we are also
ready. We are not only ready – we seek it and will respond positively to positive initiatives, but we cannot be expected to do certain things that are
beyond the scope of our powers.

We all know that these restrictions
are supposedly tied to the implementation of the Minsk agreements but the key
aspects of the implementation of the Minsk agreements today are in the hands of our Kiev partners, in the hands of the Kiev authorities. Without them, we can
do nothing. We cannot amend the Ukrainian Constitution; we cannot implement and enforce the law on special forms of governance in the well-known territories,
the Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics; we cannot sign an amnesty law for the Ukrainian president.

These are key issues in the settlement of the Donbass situation. And it is simply absurd to expect us to make these decisions. I cannot think of any other word for it. Nevertheless, we
have worked patiently and are willing to continue working just as patiently
both with our Ukrainian partners and with our EU partners. However, there is no
other way to fully resolve the situation in Donbass other than by implementing
the Minsk agreements.

As for what will happen in the economic and political
sphere following Britain’s exit [from the EU], we will see this in the very
near future. We will see.